Stasis

 Dear John,

I keep wanting to schedule more vacations, even though I know I will not be taking any more vacations this year.  Well, we might go back to my oldest sister's house, as my 2nd oldest sister will be visiting.  But that's just a weekend trip.

Right now, I'm just...bored.  Some of it has to do with Covid.  I've been in the house too much, because I don't want to go and spread germs.  All of my symptoms (which never got too bad) are gone now, so I will be venturing out tomorrow to go to the bank and the grocery store and to get one more estimate on the car.  I hate to spend the money to get it fixed, but since it scrapes the ground leaving the driveway, that 1/4" less clearance makes it worth fixing.  I guess I'll put it through the insurance - that's what we pay them for anyway.  $500 for a deductible is better than $1300-$2000 for a new bumper (and possibly a grill).  But if you could please stop trying to discourage S from driving, that would be great.  I don't have the time or the energy to shuttle her places.  And making her sit at home all the time is cruel.  She has already figured out that she needs to equalize the driving or ask for gas money, so that's good news.  

Not much else is going on.  See: boredom.  We had a dog convention in the middle of the street yesterday.  Cooper and the Wright Brothers were out.  Cooper is a generally friendly dog, who does not enjoy the company of our two, but was a good distraction that allowed my aunt to catch them when they decided to take off on her.  His owner said they were nipping at him. The young dog stood behind me and growled at him the whole time.  He's such a chicken.  The Wright Brothers are the chihuahua mixes who belong to the lady who will not wave or say hi to you...unless you want to talk about the dogs.  She is a strange duck, but everyone has their quirks.  I also enjoy the very suspicious looks her husband gives you when he's got the garage doors open and you're walking by and can see all 3 of his very expensive sports cars.  Seems like they're a good match.

I did finally go out and burn some yard waste yesterday.  It hadn't rained for pretty much all of June (the lawn is a burned mess), so I couldn't get rid of all the branches and pine needles and stuff I'd collected.  My aunt was going to take care of it while we were gone but it was still too dry.  It finally rained every day for almost a week last week.  The ground was still wet, so I was able to burn the stuff.  I had to use your rinse solution to get it going - I probably should not have poured the entire container on it.  Got a good flame though!  The mosquitos and sweat bees were crazy out there - I should have been wearing pants.  Fortunately, I just get the short term welts from mosquitos now; the bites last for an hour instead of days.  Sometimes I wonder if the allergic reaction is going to cause a problem, but so far, my skin just gets really hot for a short time.  

The other part of my boredom is that I don't have you to talk to.  Or rather, I don't have you talking to me about all your nonsense.  I miss that a lot.  So many times I would zone out, because you were ranting about something.  I knew I didn't want you to stop talking to me, but I never realized how much I would miss it.  I can call all kinds of people if I want someone to talk to, but they're not you, so I can't be bothered.  

I did text one of my work friends last weekend - the a-holes next door were running a chainsaw at 9:30 pm on a Saturday.  I think you know that my first thought was that they were obviously cutting up a body.  But I've seen both of them this week, so it wasn't a domestic situation that went terribly wrong.  They're probably doing something dodgy with their funeral home business.

Looks like the dogs are ready to go for a walk, so I guess I will take them out.  It's almost 7 pm and I am still wearing my pajamas.  I guess I'll get dressed tomorrow, since I'm planning on going out.  Young dog just licked my foot, so I should get moving...

Miss you.

Love,

A

FFS

Dear John,

I got Covid.  3+ years of avoiding it, and I'm pretty sure I got it on the flight back from vacation.  I knew I should have been wearing a mask.  That was dumb.  I can hear you saying "I told you not to travel."  So far, S is not sick.

Last night, I was running the a/c down for the night.  The dogs and I were in bed, and I heard something making noise in the a/c unit.  So I got the flashlight, and went outside to see if something had fallen in.  Note: I do not like the new a/c unit's top - too much stuff can get in there.  I didn't see anything other than the usual leaves and pine needles.  Then I looked at the top cover again, and a slightly degloved mouse was stuck in there.  I was wearing your Crocs, took a step forward to get a closer look, forgot that there were retaining wall stones there, tripped, fell, and scraped the hell out of my right leg.  

I hope all this rather unfortunate stuff means that I have exhausted my bad luck, and that I will now win $1 billion in the Powerball and Megamillions drawings.  I think I deserve it after that bunch of nonsense.

Love,

A

Vacation

 Dear John,

You would have loved Alaska.  You would have wanted to move there immediately.  It was remote and quiet and peaceful.  I would not have enjoyed it much - I like being close to shopping.  But I spent a bit of time on our cruise picking out the spots where you would have liked to live.  

You would never have gone on a cruise, but we had a fantastic time.  With my oldest sister and her husband along for the ride, we laughed and danced and took many photos.  They harassed me on my birthday - making me stay up until midnight and then singing to me as we walked through various floors of the ship.  It was really obnoxious, but also hilarious.  You know I hate to have a fuss made on my birthday, but they did it anyway.  They even told our waiters at dinner, so they brought me a cake and sang to me.  I'm not sure what language it was - Indonesian maybe?  

We got to see a lot of wildlife - bears on the side of the road, eagles as plentiful as...well, they said pigeons, but I'll go with robins, sea lions on every buoy, whales - humpbacks and orcas, otters, more bears.  Even a banana slug.  It was a wonderful trip.  I would now like to do the land and sea tour.  We also took an e-bike trip through the national forest.  You would have laughed at me the whole time.  The brake handle was a little too short, so almost every time I hit the brake, I also hit the throttle.  I almost fell off several times, but managed not to damage myself, the bike, or anyone else.  It was pretty fun, and I enjoyed the pedal-assist.  I need it for the hills at home!  Or maybe I'll just take the bike on the trail, and not worry about the hills.

S had a good time - she didn't get sick this time, which was a bonus.  She was kind of tired of being around all the adults all the time, I think.  But we got a room credit that she could use for internet, so she was still able to be in contact with all of her friends.  She was a little irritated that we didn't have time to visit Forks, WA - she did devour all of those ridiculous Twilight books and make us watch all the movies multiple times.  She says she's not still into it, but...  I said that maybe next summer we'll take a driving tour of the Pacific Northwest - maybe drive from Seattle to San Francisco.  She could bring a friend.  We'll see how that works out.  

We did get to spend a little time in Seattle too.  S was over it all by then and just wanted to get home.  So, she sort of enjoyed the Space Needle, and didn't really care about Pike Place Market.  I wish she would have had more patience - we could have gotten some lunch at a cute cafe or something.  Instead, we ate Wendy's at the airport.  And she made us go through security twice - because she ordered Starbucks from the wrong location.  Our first trip through security was reasonable.  Our second trip through took almost an hour.  We had time to kill, so it wasn't a big deal.  

My aunt came and watched the dogs while we were gone.  It was nice to have someone at the house, so I didn't have to worry about all the stuff.  She also did some yard work and most of my small cabinet project that I was going to do.  You had a little parts cabinet in the garage - it has 21 drawers, all of which were falling apart, and a hinged top for the small vials.  I was going to glue all the drawers back together, but she took care of that for me.  Now, I have to fix the top, and maybe sand and stain and seal it.  We'll see if I get that far.  The wood is pretty soft, so it won't stand up to vigorous sanding.

While we were parked at the airport, it looks as though someone backed into the car with their trailer hitch.  The left front fog light has been knocked back into the car and the front bumper is caved in a little.  I don't know if there are security cameras, so I emailed the parking lot to see if they have any record.  I'll have to get it fixed, but it's just beyond my capabilities.  Maybe.  We'll see how much it costs before I decide if I want to try it myself.  It will involve jack stands and getting under the car, though.  

I caught a little cold or something on the way back home too.  I left work early, and took extra time today - I'm only doing my 7.5 hours of teleworking and taking the other 5 hours off.  I'm feeling a little better today.  Yesterday I tried giving blood but my heart rate was elevated (I had been running up and down the stairs), and apparently I'm just old enough and fat enough to get rejected.  But my temp was also slightly up then and I was starting to feel a little weird.  In the end, it's a good thing they kicked me out.  I still get the gift card for trying.  I'll try again next time.  Anyway, by the time I got home, I was a bit feverish and starting to get the chills.  I took a nap, and then went to bed on time too.  

If you could do something to stop the cars that S is driving from getting damaged all the time, I would appreciate it.  I know it's you not approving of how much she's driving.  But we live in the suburbs, and this is how kids in the suburbs do things.  They can't walk or bike for miles to get to their friends.  Her friends pick her up occasionally too.  She's mostly driving to the gym and to work.  She will be an excellent driver by the time she goes to college, so I won't have to worry about her.  You're supposed to be watching out for her, not making her feel guilty.  So...do your actual job of protecting us, not the John version of "school of hard knocks."😡That job doesn't stop because you're not around any more, you know.  If there's an afterlife, you still have responsibilities and I expect you to uphold them.  And no, I will never stop yelling at you.  

Love,

A